The Book of Enos

Chapter 1

Enos prays mightily and gains a remission of his sins—The voice of the Lord comes into his mind, promising salvation for the Lamanites in a future day—The Nephites sought to reclaim the Lamanites—Enos rejoices in his Redeemer. About 420 B.C.

1 Behold, it came to pass that I, aEnos, knowing my father that bhe was a just man—for he ctaught me in his language, and also in the dnurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—

2 And I will tell you of the awrestle which I had before God, before I received a bremission of my sins.

3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the ajoy of the saints, bsunk deep into my heart.

4 And my soul ahungered; and I bkneeled down before my Maker, and I ccried unto him in mighty dprayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

5 And there came a avoice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are bforgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

8 And he said unto me: aBecause of thy bfaith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee cwhole.

9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a adesire for the bwelfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did cpour out my whole soul unto God for them.

10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my amind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have bgiven unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I ccurse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their dtransgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.

11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my afaith began to be bunshaken in the Lord; and I cprayed unto him with many long dstrugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.

12 And it came to pass that after I had aprayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy bdesires, because of thy faith.

13 And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be adestroyed, and the Lamanites should not be bdestroyed, that the Lord God would cpreserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be dbrought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be ebrought unto salvation—

14 For at the present our strugglings were avain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that, if it were possible, they would bdestroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers.

15 Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to apreserve our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.

16 And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would apreserve the brecords; and he covenanted with me that he would cbringdthem forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.

17 And I, Enos, aknew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest.

18 And the Lord said unto me: Thy fathers have also required of me this thing; and it shall be done unto them according to their faith; for their faith was like unto thine.

19 And now it came to pass that I, Enos, went about among the people of Nephi, prophesying of things to come, and testifying of the things which I had heard and seen.

20 And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to arestore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our blabors were vain; their chatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a dblood-thirsty people, full of eidolatry and ffilthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in gtents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the hbow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.

21 And it came to pass that the people of Nephi did till the land, and araise all manner of grain, and of fruit, and bflocks of herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats, and also many horses.

22 And there were exceedingly many aprophets among us. And the people were a bstiffnecked people, hard to understand.

23 And there was nothing save it was exceeding aharshness, bpreaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually creminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things—stirring them up dcontinually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction. And after this manner do I write concerning them.

24 And I saw awars between the Nephites and Lamanites in the course of my days.

25 And it came to pass that I began to be old, and an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi aleft Jerusalem.

26 And I saw that I amust soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world.

27 And I soon go to the place of my arest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall brest. And I rejoice in the day when my cmortal shall put on dimmortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the emansions of my Father. Amen.